Vendée Globe

Loïck Peyron, (Gitana Eighty) regains the lead as the pace increases at the front  of the fleet. A gap develops to fourth.

Peyron leads by four miles from Jean Pierre Dick (Paprec-Virbac 2). Only 4.3 miles separate the leading trio, Seb Josse (BT) in third, but they have earned a jump of 32.2 miles overnight over fourth placed Jean Le Cam (VM Matériaux).

Three and a half days after the original start of the sixth Vendée Globe, Bernard Stamm (Cheminées Poujoulat) returned to the race course this morning after making replacing his carbon bowsprit which was knocked off by a collision with a ship on the first night of racing, and making repairs to his standing rigging.

Stamm headed out of Les Sables d’Olonne at around 0240hrs GMT to a rousing send off. Only a matter of minutes before it had been the unfortunate Kito de Pavant (Groupe Bel) and Yannick Bestaven (Aquarelle.com) which the Les Sables locals gave a warm welcome back to the pair who were both dismasted in a Biscay storm late on Tuesday

Stamm said: “ The whole team has done a great job working day and night since I came back to repair the damage. There was the broken bowsprit, three damaged ballast compartments, the port dagger board and a lot of repairs to the mast. It took a lot of work with composites. I have been delayed by three days and am setting off in a high-pressure area, which isn't great. But, that's the way it is.  There's a long journey ahead.  We'll see what happens. I was helped by all my friends. The sponsors were here and my wife was here too. I had a lot of support, which really helped. It was only material damage after all.”

Of the international skipper Mike Golding, GBR, (Ecover 3) still holds 11^th place in the fleet of 27. As the leaders stretched away slightly, moving progressively into stronger winds, Golding lies 77.4 miles behind Peyron. Dee Caffari, the British solo sailor, is a further 13.5 miles behind him. Brian Thompson, GBR, (Bahrain Team Pindar) is 13^th and was polled quickest of his immediate pack of rivals this morning.

Swiss skipper Dominic Wavre (Temenos II) gained another place overnight and lies 16^th. He was forced to re-start again last Sunday about 11 hours after the original start, after repairing an electrical fault.

Yannick Bestaven (Aquarelle.com) under jury rig and Kito de Pavant (Groupe Bel), under engine, arrived back in Les Sables d'Olonne at 01h40 and 01h55 respectively. 

First back to the pontoon, Yannick Bestaven felt a little lost, as he set foot ashore:”I feel it's unfair, but the Vendée Globe wasn't made for me this year.  There's been no reward for the months of hard work.  That's tough. I should have stayed at home this summer, when I had problems getting a sponsor. I get the impression I have been wasting my time.  There were a lot of sacrifices made by myself and by the team.  They all worked like crazy right up to the start. They believed in me.  Everyone is very disappointed.”

An extremely disappointed Kito de Pavant could not hide his emotion on seeing the warm welcome: “It's very frustrating not to be out there under the stars. The fine weather arrived after the storm. I didn't make it through the first storm.  The worst was over and I knew that a few hours later, I'd be enjoying myself immensely.  The boat slammed into a wave that was more violent than the others. The mast fell and the adventure was over. I'm thinking of those, who are continuing and who are enjoying gliding down in the trade winds.  With the current conditions, it must be great for them.  I hope they all make it back to Les Sables d’Olonne for the finish, because the welcome I had here was exceptional.  I wasn't expecting to see that… I still have the tears in my eyes.  It's awful.  I'd really loved to have made it back to Les Sables much later on.”

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